Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Free Fiction - No Twerking Celebs

Another great Tuesday for free fiction. More later today. [Art for "Deadly City" in audio fiction]

Fiction
• At AE: "An Operatic Tour of New Jersey, with Raptors" by Ada Hoffman. Science Fiction.
"The Apocalypse begins when Diego sings Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville in Dover, New Jersey. He doesn’t notice anything wrong until after the curtain call, when he steps out of the Baker Theater onto West Blackwell Street, struggling to balance the three bouquets of roses in his arms, and walks into a horde of running, screaming people, pursued by a Tyrannosaurus"

• At Author's Site: "Folk Lure" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Fantasy.
"Drew, a private investigator, protects Karen. Lonely, sad, vulnerable Karen. So, when Karen decides to respond to a suspicious-sounding personal ad about a music audition, Drew tags along. What he observes puts his instincts on high alert. Drew fears the Folklorist plans to use her and toss her away. But the truth will prove far more surprising that Drew can ever imagine."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Matchmaker" by Sara Puls. Fantasy.
"Don had been delivering mail to Ruthetta Bell's house for almost thirty years before she finally asked him inside. It was the day he'd been waiting for, but never had the courage to make happen. Now, though, it wasn't like he imagined. He'd waited too long."

• At HiLobrow: "Herland - Part 7" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Speculative Fiction.
"Being at last considered sufficiently tamed and trained to be trusted
with scissors, we barbered ourselves as best we could. A close-trimmed
beard is certainly more comfortable than a full one. Razors, naturally,
they could not supply."

• At Lightspeed: "Brisneyland by Night" by Angela Slatter. Fantasy.
"'How many kids now?' I asked. 'Twenty-five we can identify for sure. But that’s out of a couple of hundred a week. Not all those are ours.' 'Don’t say ours, Bela. They’re nothing to do with me.' I looked out the window. My reflection stared back. Beyond that I watched the night speed past. I should have been at my next-door neighbour’s eighth birthday party, pretending I didn’t like children; I shouldn’t have been here."

• At The Colored Lens: "Bottle This" by J.J. Roth. Science Fiction.
"Stir fry bubbled in a line of industrial pans that gave off clouds of
oily-smelling steam. The jock’s plastic-wrapped hand dropped grey tofu
lumps into the first pan and greenish chicken cubes into the next three.
His other hand, ungloved and permanently dingy, sloshed a ladle of
grainy, tan liquid across all the pans."

• At Lightspeed: "Face Value" by Sean Williams. Science Fiction.
"News of the disappearance of inventor Felix Frey spread through the Air with electric ease. It was exactly the kind of distraction I needed. There are only so many quaint old thefts and counterfeit scams I can pluck from policing archives while my girlfriend Billie works in her studio, adjusting facial nerves, muscles, and skin cells to fit her clients’ desires."

Audio Fiction
• At Lightspeed: "Face Value" by Sean Williams. Science Fiction.
"News
of the disappearance of inventor Felix Frey spread through the Air with
electric ease. It was exactly the kind of distraction I needed. There
are only so many quaint old thefts and counterfeit scams I can pluck
from policing archives while my girlfriend Billie works in her studio,
adjusting facial nerves, muscles, and skin cells to fit her clients’
desires."

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Deadly City" by Ivar Jorgenson. (Paul W. Fairman). Science Fiction.
"You're all alone in a deserted city. You walk down an empty
street, yearning for the sight of one living face—one moving figure.
Then you see a man on a corner and you know your terror has only
begun." Text here.

Other Genres
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Indian" by Melody Feldman.